William T. Stead to Walt Whitman, 7 January 1890
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The Review of Reviews.
Edited by W.T. STEAD.
Telephone No 2841
Burleigh St, Strand.
London.
7 January 1890 .
Walt Whitman, Esq.
Camden New Jersey
U.S.A.
Sir,
I forward you by this Mail advance copy of the "Review of Reviews"1 a publication which as you will see, has the approval of the Leading Statesmen and Men of Letters & Science, in the Old Country.
I am anxious to put in the second number a similar series of letters from the Leading Americans and I ask you if you approve [illegible] the general idea of the "Review of the Reviews" to be so [illegible] to post me a line stating your view of the matter which I could reproduce in fac-simile
I would specially call your attention to the article "To All English-speaking Folk" on Page 15.
I have the honor to be Your obedient servant William T. Stead
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Correspondent:
William Thomas Stead
(1849–1912) was a well-known English journalist and editor of The Pall Mall Gazette in the 1880s. He was a proponent of
what he called "government by journalism" and advocated for a strong press that
would influence public opinion and affect government decision-making. His
investigative reports were much discussed and often had significant social
impact. He has sometimes been credited with inventing what came to be called
"tabloid journalism," since he worked to make newspapers more attractive to
readers, incorporating maps, illustrations, interviews, and eye-catching
headlines. He died on the Titanic when it sank in
1912.
Notes
- 1. The Review of Reviews was a magazine begun by the reform journalist William Thomas Stead (1849–1912) in 1890 and published in Great Britain. It contained reviews and excerpts from other magazines and journals, as well as original pieces, many written by Stead himself. [back]